Like All The Others
by NoteEmmy
Summary: Varon tries to get closer to Mai for the last time. Seeing right through his "act" she puts him to the test.


Varon came up behind the blonde at the bar. She was brooding- well, she was always brooding about something. Ever since he'd met her he never really saw her smile. She smirked and she boasted and she pretended to be as whole just as well as the rest of them did. It's why she fit in so well. But he could see through that bullshit like it was glass. How could he have perfected his own mask if not for that?

Mai was a mystery. She was sad, too. Something about her touched a deep part of him and he just wanted to reach out and take her in his arms. Mai didn't need that, though. Mai didn't need coddling or reassurance. That's what she wanted everyone to believe. Varon was starting not to. How could he think any other way when he could sense her sadness from miles down the road?

He'd been riding to who-knows-where on his bike. None of it mattered. Everything seemed to be falling apart. Her, too. And it killed him. He'd stopped in to some little shitty motel with a bar just to catch some rest that wasn't on the side of the road. He hadn't slept in days. It had been a while since she'd parted from him. Yet there she was. Sitting at the bar like she had every right in the world.

Mai couldn't remember when she'd stopped in. She couldn't remember how many drinks she'd had. None of it was working. Not the time apart, not the power, and certainly not the scotch. Nothing had served to quell her journey to self acceptance. To finding herself. In fact, she was beginning to think that doing this had set her back a few paces. And that thought didn't sit well in her stomach.

"You gonna stare all night or come sit?" She said quietly, hand gripping the glass harder. It was hard not to hear the roar of that motorcycle from miles away. It had to be him. He was always chasing after her. It made her feel like…

No.

"Sure as heck can't deny that sort of invitation." His helmet was slipped off along with his goggles as he moved to the seat next to her. It creaked underneath his weight and the counter was covered in grime. "Shit, why'd you decide a place like this? A woman like you-"

"A woman like me doesn't care about shitty bars as long as they have something good to drink." It wasn't entirely true. Mai wasn't a drunkard nor an alcoholic. She really hated those types of people. The types that drank all their problems away and then tried to coerce women in to bed like they were something special.

She hated them and yet there she was, staring down into the amber liquid of her drink as if it really held all her answers. It didn't. But the warmth in her belly was starting to become pleasing instead of sickening. She'd been trying to escape this whole time. What did it really matter anymore if she'd started drinking too?

Varon frowned, watching her openly. When the bartender got around to looking him up and down he ordered whatever she was having and bit back the distaste in his throat as he downed his first glass. He didn't want to be so far behind. Mai usually had a plan. After a long silence between them, still watching her stare into her glass like it was a damn television he spoke up. "Dartz is starting to wonder-"

"I don't care about him." And she didn't. She could prove her worth without him, regardless of the power he'd given her. She wasn't stupid. He was using her. At least that's what she let him think. But maybe now that she was so down on her luck she really was starting to get used.

"Tch. You don't care about anyone, do you?" He hadn't meant his curt tone. And when she looked up at him, her violet eyes glassed with not only intoxication but this deep emanating sorrow that made his heart twist, he couldn't help himself. "Sorry."

She looked him up and down. Varon was always nicer to her than the other three, not that she really counted Dartz since that man was a ghost. Only around when it served his purposes… then again, wasn't she that way too? She wasn't stupid. She knew the kid had some dopey affections for her.

Just like…

"Don't be. You're right." She didn't want to think about that idiot. That was the last person she wanted on her mind right now. His idiot smile and his meandering words that never went anywhere but meant so much, his poor dueling skills that prove to be worth more every time, and his stupid, so stupid, undying friendship. Or love. Did Jonouchi love her?

She decided she didn't care anymore. Or that she would pretend not to until she could make it all go away on her own.

Varon's lips pursed together. "I'm a liar and so are you." Mai cared deeply for someone. He just hadn't figured out who it was yet. Maybe he didn't want to. He wanted it to be him. But she did. He could see it in her. He pretended not to care about anyone, too. They were so alike, why couldn't she just acknowledge him? It was so frustrating.

"You lie about much simpler things." She chided, smirking a little drunkenly as she leaned heavily back in her seat. "Like that it doesn't bother you when Amelda beats you in races, and that you don't like it when Raphael watches out for you." Dumb boy things. Little things that didn't matter. That got his blood boiling. The kid didn't like it when people watched out for him. He was cute in that way.

"Is that so?" He said, a little annoyed. "And I suppose you have some deep dark girly secrets that trump my icky boy feelings." He couldn't stand women sometimes. He was starting to wonder why he was pursuing this one. She was just as frustrating if not more.

"That IS so." She exaggerated more loudly than she'd meant to and finished her drink. "An idiot like you is miles away from figuring out someone like me." The glass was set carefully down on the bar and she set her gaze far away, much further than the wall seemed to actually be.

Varon set to pouting. "I could if you'd just let me in. Anyone in. But you don't."

Her eyes lowered. "There's…" A reason. She had once, a few times, for a group of kids much like the ones she found herself in now. And in the end she'd gotten hurt so much worse. Her defenses weren't as high tonight. If she wasn't careful Varon might finally slip right in. He'd been trying so hard for months now.

He was waiting for her to finish her thought. Cutting her off when she was a bit loose with her lips now would be foolish. He could finally learn something. But then she turned to him and he felt like he she was staring right through him. He froze, unsure what to do. And then drunkenly she raised her hand to his face, fingers finding their way through his bangs.

He reminded her so much of Jonouchi like this. Even the way his face was starting to warm and she'd barely done anything. Men were so easy. He wanted her. He wanted to know her, to have her, and it showed. He was screaming it in the way he was looking at her, responding to her touch.

"Mai…" He didn't know what else to do. Here was the woman he'd been after, drunk no doubt, but finally paying attention to him. And he couldn't think of anything else but- "You look sad." She'd been frowning for most of the exchange and she looked like she was about to cry. It was killing him.

Her hand stopped in its movements before lightly smacking his cheek. She sighed. "Goes to show what you know."

The quick retreat flared his anger back up. Both hands slammed down on the dirty countertop. "God damn it, Mai, can't you just let me in? Even for a second? Do you understand how much it hurts me to see you this way?" Revealing his hand this way was over the top, it wasn't something he wanted to do. But he just couldn't take her fleeting presence anymore. She teased him all the time this way before fluttering away and shutting the door in his face.

She'd been not only stunned but frightened by his actions. Nobody went that far for control. For sex. Varon really did care about her. And the startling realization terrified her. She swallowed the sudden dryness in her throat before pushing away and shakily standing. There was only one way to fix this. "You want in?" She asked, as if it were really that easy.

"I didn't say it for fun." He was still fuming. Her antics were getting old. Soon he might stop caring completely. As if he could. But he liked to lie to himself to make it easier.

As striking a gaze as she could make it was set to Varon and she watched him freeze. Men were so predictable. "Come with me." Her tone dropping to sultry. She would fix this burning need inside her. She'd forget Jonouchi. And she'd make Varon see her exact 'worth'. She'd drive him away by perpetuating her own self-loathing.

Now he was torn. This was as good an offer as he was ever going to get. He just knew it. But doing it would ruin everything. He didn't just want to fuck her, he wanted her completely. But she disappeared out the doorway and if he didn't follow her the window would close. In a mad scramble he stood and went after her. He barely had time to see her close a door at the end of the hall. Once outside it he waited, a little scared. If he went in there he could ruin everything.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she wanted to talk. To cry. To do… whatever it was when women wanted to heal. Mai needed it. But this setup was easy enough to see through. She was drunk on top of it all. What sort of man would he be if he just went in there after everything? He said he'd wanted in but this was not the way. …was it?

None of it seemed to matter anymore as he entered the room. The door shut behind him and his brain idled out quickly after. Mai was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, undressed save for her bra and panties. He swallowed hard. And that was all it took for him to lose any and all control he thought he had over the situation.

It was all it took for Mai to understand he was just like everyone else.

Immediately he shed his top gear, disk, and boots just so he could be one step closer to that gorgeous body. She was waiting for him, staring at him, swaying slightly in her spot- the drink, no doubt. It reminded him for a small second that this was probably the worst thing he could do. But then she raised those perfectly manicured fingers and pulled him in closer. And then pushed him down.

"On your knees."

He obeyed like she was his queen so suddenly, the only one worth taking any orders from. He went to his knees and carefully raised his hands to her hips. She didn't stop him so he took it as the sign to move forward. His lips pressed against her flat stomach and then over the curve of one hip.

Her hand curled in his hair, tugging with a disapproving sound from him. "Slow. Up here." Commanding still.

And he listened. He leaned up on his knees so he could look into her eyes. She was bare there but drawn back still. He could tell any real shot at intimacy was not there. Maybe someday. Right now he didn't have to dream so much as his lips skimmed her shoulders, lowering the straps of her bra. She quivered, something that made him smile. His hands went behind her to unhook the straps and peel the garment away from her.

"You've done this before." She said, already breathless. He was doing this with such care.

"Not important now." He murmured, palms of his hands brushing over the peaks of her breasts. She was already excited. Her body hummed-

Or was that just her? "It is important." She tried to stay clear. "If you think you can satisfy me with no experience."

He kissed down her collarbones and down her bare breasts, lips curving around the tip of the left. She shuddered, arching back in the chair. "You think you're a hard buy but you're already mush." He teased before curling his tongue over her. It incited another arch and this time a soft moan, one that went straight to his cock.

His hand dropped, caressing her hip and then over the inside of her thigh before lightly skimming over the inside of her panties. He pressed, rubbing softly. "You're already wet." Hummed as he continued teasing her, lips leaving her breasts to go back to her stomach and then lower.

Both hands hooked in her underwear. "Up." He was the one giving orders now. And to his delight her hips raised so he could slide her underwear off. Once it was gone he took her all in from this vantage point. A beautiful sight. His fingers went back to teasing, though, not ready to lose all of this.

Her hips arched impatiently as his fingers pressed inward but were careful still, sliding over her continually. "Calm yourself." He said, smirking up at her.

"Don't tell me what to do." She was already panting. Her fingers went to his hair. "And stop fucking around." She hated being strung out.

He smirked up at her before leaning in. "I've only just started." It was a promise but one he was still intent on delaying. As she spread her legs for him, the tip of his tongue slowly lapped at her clit. She jolted, very sensitive it seemed. His hands went to her hips to pull her in closer and stabilize her. He went in deeper, circling her once before lowering and pushing his tongue all the way inside her.

Mai was reduced to a mess already. It didn't help matters when he went back to circling her clit with that tongue of his while simultaneously sliding two fingers deep inside her, twisting and hooking with each pass. He was driving her mad. All of his actions were slow and deliberate. He was messing with her.

It was when he suckled softly that she really lost all coherency. She melted in her chair, feeling him touch her, lips curved around her in such a way with such gentle pressure; her hips jutted forward, a loud moan leaving her. She wanted more. "Come on," But she would never beg. "Finish it." Ordering again as only she knew how. She felt him smile against her intimately, something else that made her shudder and his pace increased.

She lost it soon after, climax twisting inside her with gentle thrusts of her hips into his fingers and tongue. Just a moment after he lifted her up and lowered her to the bed, but seemed adamant on continuing. Three fingers slid inside her then, careful, just coaxing moans out of her as he skillfully undressed himself. He barely left her. Her hips continued to work up into him, frustratedly as he was slow.

Her hands went to her breasts and he fumbled as he watched her play with herself. She smirked, sensing she could gain the upper hand. "What's the matter?" She rubbed the pads of her fingers over her breasts, causing herself to writhe. And when he'd pulled away to take his pants off one hand went lower, circling her own clit before dipping inside herself.

Varon nearly lost it. Touching her was impossibly amazing, watching her touch herself? He couldn't think straight. It was all he could do to pull her hands from her, forcefully pinning them above her head. She seemed unsurprised as she stared up at him, flushed and panting. Her hips raised to his, wetness catching on him and his cock twitched. He still stared, this the last thing he'd be able to do. Without much further thought he reached between them to guide himself into her in one clean jerk of his hips.

He kept one hand on her hip, steadying each increased thrust inside of her. The other went to cup her cheek and then finally went around her to pull her closer. Eventually she lost the stare, eyes closing as he filled her each time. It became too much. But he continued watching her, watching her lose herself to him.

"Mai…" It was a struggled pant. She'd wound him up tight without even touching him. Damn this woman. He could feel herself losing too, though, twitching in his hold, body slowly warming hotter and tightening beneath him. She was trying to hold off. "Don't hold back on me." A quiet command as he finally took her lips against his own.

She hadn't been expecting a kiss, not that it mattered. With a few more feverish thrusts of his cock inside her she couldn't keep from it any longer. "J-" No, she wasn't thinking about him again was she? It came out as mush, her partner none the wiser. "Varon…" Quietly cried right next to his ear as her hips angled upwards to take more of him in, unable to stop herself as she came.

He was too caught up in her and the moment she came he followed. "Mai." Tightly pronounced as he moved into her one last time, coming deep inside her. None of it mattered now. Especially not the way he refused to let her go, lying beside her, holding her.

It was just the way she snuggled up to him, panting, that made him think something did matter. Maybe he hadn't blown everything. Mai on the other hand was too tired to judge him any longer. She'd at least got what she'd bargained for. And he was warm, too. Things weren't so bad then. That's all they cared about without a single word


End file.
